Post 21 - Setting the Record Straight

Posted on Sat Feb 6th, 2021 @ 7:40pm by Captain Jocelyn Blake

Mission: Episode 1: Acta Non Verba
Location: Lakeside, Pennsylvania
Timeline: Day 16, mid-morning

[The Blake Residence]
[Lakeside, Pennsylvania]
[Day 16 - 1050 Hours]

The couch’s occupant had clearly been there for some time. PADDs and a small, yet heavy, stack of paper books littered the opposite seat, floor, and end table. A long drained coffee cup with a half-eaten muffin sat abandoned next to the one stockinged foot that was resting on the ground. The other was propped on a small pillow behind which sat more PADDs.

The incident –Warren refused to think of it as anything more than petty vandals—had only been the day prior, but it was seriously cramping his morning routine.

Swinging his foot around to settle on the floor next to the first, Warren Blake thrust his arms above his head, stretching sore muscles in his back until the stretching moved towards cramping and he had to put them back down.

“Judy!” he called, picking up his coffee cup and staring forlornly into its empty depths. “Is the pot still on?”

Judy Blake came around the corner, lips pursed at her husband. “No need to shout Warren. I’m right here.”

“Oh,” he replied unabashed. “Is there more coffee?”

Judy Blake picked her way through the piles of PADDs to a worn armchair across from the sofa. “I just put a pot on. Should be ready in a few.”

Warren nodded, surveying the mess around him. It was more extreme than usual, but then he felt more distracted than usual.
After a few moments of silence, hand cupped around the back of his neck, he spoke, raising his eyes to his wife’s tired face. “Do you think we should check on her?” he inquired voicing the unspoken worry the two of them had carried since the prior morning.

Her being their daughter. The one who was the target of the vandalism even if she was thousands of miles away. The one who, once she learned of the act, had withdrawn and stepped away only to call them later, her eyes clearly puffy from crying, but refusing to acknowledge that she was the least bit shaken. The look on her face had eaten him up harkening him back to days when she was barely as tall as his knee climbing into their bed because a nightmare had woken her. He hated that he couldn’t scoop her up, plant a kiss on her forehead, and simply make it all go away.

“No,” Judy said, voice sad. “She’ll call again when she’s ready.”

The two fell back into their own contemplative silences again and so it was that a knock at the sliding door startled them both.

Judy’s face paled, her immediate instinct after the prior day to assume something bad had happened. Warren stood, wary, and made his way to the door, his wife joining just behind him.

“Warren Blake?” a voice came from just beyond the threshold. It was a kind voice, but not a familiar one.

“Who’s asking?” Warren replied, arms crossed over his chest.

“Kuda. Rigelian News Coalition.” The voice replied matter-of-factly.

Warren moved to shut the door as soon as it was evident whom the man represented. He knew enough to be suspicious of a reporter on his doorstep.

“Wait!” the visitor exclaimed, “I’ve been assigned to learn more about who Jocelyn Blake really is. To clear the rumors, at least for our readers.”

Warren paused, suspicion warring with a desire to help his daughter. “You’re aiming to tell the truth?” He inquired?

“Oh, Warren, don’t.” Judy breathed. “Not without talking to Joce first.”

“She’s busy enough as it is Judy," Warren murmured, determination coloring his voice. "The least we can do is help set the record straight.”

Warren Blake pulled himself up to his full height, straightening his shoulders, and then slid the door open. Stepping back, he wavein a humanoid man with the singature appearance of a Rigelian--facial features resembling a series of tattoos.

“Judy, get out another coffee cup,” he directed. To Kuda he responded, “Let’s talk in here.”

=/\= A mission post by =/\=

Warren and Judy Blake
Jocelyn Blake's Parents